The Greek tech ecosystem has seen an unprecedented growth during the past few years, with female entrepreneurs having a vital role in its development.
In this article, The Recursive takes a look at who are the Greek women in tech that are shaping the country’s ecosystem and explores the different verticals where they are thriving.
From AI and medtech to e-commerce and startups and VCs, Greek women are continuously working on improving the Greek tech ecosystem as founders, entrepreneurs, investors and many other roles in domestic and international tech companies and startups across Greece. Take a look at our list below.
Stefi Vasilopoulou is the founder of Hellenides, a career network that supports women in Greece, which she launched at the beginning of 2022. She is also one of the first angel investors in Greece (10 years ago) with a successful exit. Vasilopoulou is also an advisor and Managing Partner of ORAMA Ventures.
Filling the gap in the existence of professional networks that empower progressive women in society, Hellenides provides female professionals with tools and knowledge to thrive.
A serial entrepreneur, Vasilopoulou has been developing different businesses and since 2008, when she created a digital platform for students to exchange books. The following year, in 2009 she created an online advertising and performance marketing marketplace, while in 2018 Vasilopoulou launched the first inspirational podcast in Greece.
Stella Kasdagli is the co-founder of Women On Top, the most experienced non-profit organization in Greece for the professional empowerment of women and for gender equality in the public sphere.
As a cofounder of the organization, Kasdagli designs and implements mentoring and professional development programs for women, as well as services for businesses that strive for equality, diversity and work-life balance in the workplace.
Goals and expectations for 2023: There are a host of initiatives to promote women in tech brewing in Greece for Q4 2022 and the whole of 2023 and we, at Women On Top, are really excited to watch this issue coming to the forefront of public discussion. Among those, Women On Top is working on an EU project called feminICT, aimed at making tech companies, incubators and tech schools become more gender sensitive and inclusive.
Eri Pavlaki is the co-founder and director of “Women Do Business” is a Greek Non Profit Organization which promotes female entrepreneurship and is against stereotypes. Its goal is to inspire and empower women in the field of business.
Pavlaki’s NGO also organizes events for women’s entrepreneurship, giving the opportunity to women who have succeeded and are active in the business world to share their story in a simple and direct way.
Rania Lamprou is CEO and cofounder of e-commerce startup Simpler. The e-commerce startup was founded in 2021, with headquarters in London and offices in Athens.
Simpler’s team consists of 11 people and is growing with offices in both Athens and London. Simpler’s model is called “headless checkout”, and decouples the checkout process from the online stores for the first time.
Ioanna Angelidaki is the cofounder and CMO of the mobile app and e-shop for groceries InstaShop that operates in the whole MENA region.
Before, Angelidaki was the co-founder and CMO of Voundapp, a voice social network that allows users to create and share voice and video snippets.
Olga Mavi is the co-founder and Head of Product at Socital, a platform for e-commerce companies to increase sales through conversion rate optimization.
Mavi is also an organizer for Product Community Greece, and she has been a speaker and mentor in various events about women empowerment in the workplace and women in the tech industry.
Zina Mavroeidi is the founder of e-fresh.gr, the largest and most comprehensive online supermarket in the region of Attica.
e-fresh.gr was established to offer an innovative and user-friendly website, matched with an innovative solution for storing and delivering purchases at the customer, thus offering an integrated e-retailing service.
Mavroeidi specializes in consulting, advertising, budgeting, ebusiness, marketing, media buying, media planning, negotiation, programming, research, and retail.
Christina Karapataki is an investor at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a VC which invests in companies creating tech solutions addressing climate change.
Karapataki has been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 and has a Global Corporate Venturing (GCV) Rising Stars award in corporate venturing.
Anastasia Psomiadi – is the founder and president of APSON CSR, the first and pioneer company in Greece that specializes in Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility, and promoting ESG strategy & Public Private Partnerships . She is also the founder and President of one of the first social enterprises in Greece.
Psomiadi is also a lecturer and head of the educational programs in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability and in Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in post graduate programs at a private university.
Melina Taprantzi – she is a social entrepreneur who in 2020 was one of the seven women globally that received the prestigious “SDGs and Her” award from the United Nations and the World Bank, for her work in the implementation of the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.
Taprantzi has been leading SDGs and ESG projects from conception to implementation, supporting Fortune 1000 companies as an Advisor on Corporate Social Responsibility and Equality Diversity and Inclusion.
In 2013, as a social entrepreneur she founded “Wise Greece”, a non profit organization that supports small farmers and food producers to grow and export their products and turns its profit from the sales into food supplies for children and families in need.
Goals and expectations for 2023: “Wise Greece” today is one of Europe’s most awarded social enterprises, while in 2020 it was one of the seven initiatives globally, which were awarded by the United Nations and the World Bank for its contribution in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Every company -small or big- needs to take into serious consideration the ESG criteria as well as the SDGs and make sure that it contributes in a positive way to an environmentally and socially sustainable future.
Elena Pantazi is the talent and portfolio development manager at the UK technology venture capital fund Northzone. Before, Pantazi was the Director of Operations and Head of Marketing & Communications at Bain Capital Private Equity Europe.
With a diverse background in venture capital, private equity, and early-stage startups, Pantazi has also been an investment manager at venture philanthropy fund Impetus.
Maria-Christina Tsitsopoulos is Techstars’ Startup Programs Regional Manager of Southern and Western Europe. She is also a mentor in the international Girlz program that matches high school and college girls with female leaders.
Tsitsopoulous is interested in psychology, learning and development, coupling that with a passion for startups and technology and supporting entrepreneurs in their journey from testing the initial idea to the IPO.
Myrto Papathanou is a Founding Partner at Metavallon VC – the early-stage venture capital fund focused on Greek and European tech companies.
She has been part of the founding team of several tech startups herself and she is also a Board Member of Greek startup stars such as Better Origin and FerryHopper.
Goals and expectations for 2023: Currently in a divestment period for Metavallon’s first fund and in 2023 the fund will be looking at realizing some new exits and additional follow on rounds as companies move to Series B and beyond. Particularly excited about companies in the clean tech space and robotics, as well as travel and the developers and creators economy.
Thaleia Misailidou is the Principal at Marathon Venture Capital and a cofounder of the collaborative community for finance professionals working with startups Greek Tech Finance Network.
Misailidou has a background in mechanical engineering and financial engineering and has a passion for Robotics, AI, and gaming.
Goals and expectations for 2023: Currently in the investment period of Marathon’s second fund, deploying €70 million in Greek startups. Truly excited about the caliber of Greek founders building world-class tech around the world. At the same time, experienced professionals are joining the startup industry adding knowledge and skills to the equation. Communities such as the Tech Finance Network, Greeks in Tech and Envolve Greece fuel this virtuous circle. Greece has evolved into a vibrant ecosystem where startups, capital, and communities drive innovation.
Peggy Antonakou is the Head of Google for South Eastern Europe. Her goal is to support business transformation and technology enablement in the ecosystem, to support the next wave of digital frontrunners, and to help people thrive in an ever expanding global setting.
Niovi Christopoulou is an experienced business and legal professional currently focused on investments, VC and entrepreneurship.
Niovi is currently advising innovative companies on strategic and legal matters with a transatlantic focus (EU-based companies entering the US market, as well as US investors interested in EU-based opportunities). Niovi’s recent work experience includes working as director of capital partnering and Deputy GC at a NYC-based fintech company engineering first generation financial products with a focus on cryptocurrencies where she was engaged in product and business development, operations and legal matters.
Alexandra Choli is a former Partner at Metavallon VC, a venture capital fund investing in very early stage technology companies in Greece and Europe. She has 17 years of experience in the fields of operations, business development, and entrepreneurship, and is passionate about growing innovation-driven startups.
In 2011, Choli founded Metavallon.org, a model social enterprise that spearheaded the formation of the startup ecosystem in Greece, and four years later she launched Metavallon Ventures Limited, a micro-fund that pioneered pre-seed investments in the country.
Prior to Metavallon, she worked in operations, management, and business development at several early-stage & small- to medium-sized businesses, both for-profit and nonprofit, in Greece, UK, United States, Nicaragua and India.
Goals and expectations for 2023: Continue to work with high tech and deep tech startups in Greece and in Europe, and make an impact in vital sectors such as health, energy, food and water, and financial inclusion.
Engaging more with the community and support initiatives for women in Greece and Greek women abroad.
Fay Christodoulou is the cofounder and Chief Scientific Officer of the Miroculus platform, which develops innovative software for life sciences and allows scientists, engineers, hospitals, and lab operators to share, create and run complex protocols.
Magy Kontou is co-founder and Lead Product and UI/UX Designer of SimpleApps, an award winning tech startup that operates both as a mobile and digital agency, with its services receiving awards in numerous competitions for young entrepreneurship and innovation.
She has also co-organized the Google Developers Group Athens (GDG Athens) and is an ambassador for Women Techmakers (Google). Kontou is also a frequent speaker at competitions and panel discussions on tech and entrepreneurship.
Vicky Peppa is an international marketing consultant and founder of marketing and advertising agency “A bit Of Greece”. She is an innovative strategic marketer who has worked for both consumer products and professional services on local, national and international level.
Peppa has multi-functional executive experience in both B2C and B2B marketing with a history of revenue and profit growth.
Elena Veli is Technology Consultant at Deloitte and active member of the Deloitte Hers-Net-Community. Veli is also a founder of Greek NewSpace Society, which facilitates the awakening of the NewSpace flame in Greece through a variety of education, research, art, creativity, and entrepreneurship.
Goals and expectations for 2023: The Greek tech ecosystem has a great potential to play an important role in the digital transformation as new players already have a great track record in areas such as AI, XR, and hyperautomation.
Konstantina Bethani is the founder and CEO of Tenebra Studios, a Greek game development and digital interactive software development company founded in 2006 in Athens.
The Greek company has a solid partnership with Sony Hellas, Sony Norway and Sony Portugal and it has participated in the translations of popular games such as Uncharted 3 and 4, The Last of Us and God of War 3.
Mariza Dima is an interaction designer, industry consultant, and Senior Lecturer in Games Design with a focus on Creative Technology for Games at Brunel University London, where she teaches User Interface and Player Experience design, Digital Prototyping, Games Programming, and Concept Communication.
Dima is an expert in User Experience Design for immersive technologies and games, creative technology applications in gaming, game-based learning, and co-design and experiential design methods for collaboration and co-creation working in projects between academia and industry sectors such as Cultural Heritage, Health, Education, Visual Arts, and Entertainment.
Evangelia Balatsou is a cognitive neuroscientist with a special interest in how the brain perceives, processes and produces language. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from Bangor University and now works at voiceweb as a Speech Scientist and Project Manager.
She is also the founder of Greek Girls Code, an initiative launched by account takeovers on Twitter, inspiring young girls to engage in science.
Katerina Pramatari is associate professor at the Department of Management Science and Technology of the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) and scientific coordinator of the ELTRUN-SCORE research group.
She has worked as a systems analyst for Procter & Gamble European Headquarters and in the Marketing Department of Procter & Gamble Greece, as well as in the setup of B2B ventures. She has won both business and academic distinctions and has been granted eight state and school scholarships.
Her research and teaching areas are Supply and Demand Chain Collaboration, Traceability and RFID, e-Procurement, e-Business Integration and Electronic Services.
Goals and expectations for 2023: Continue with Uni.Find 2 supporting tech entrepreneurs, focusing specifically on the University/research space, as with Uni.Fund 1, but extending our activity beyond Greece this time, looking also at the region.
Joanna Vaiou is a graduate of the Department of Economics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and works as a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist, analyst, and project manager in her own business where she works with companies in local, national, and international audiences that want to be prominent in organic Google results, on Google’s first page.
Vaiou has been a leader in the field of SEO in Greece and working in the field of internet marketing as well as career issues in general about the importance of personal development.
Denise Xifara has a PhD in Statistical Genetics and MMath in Mathematics & Statistics from Oxford University. She worked in academia at Oxford and won awards from the American Society of Human Genetics and the Leventis Foundation.
Xifara has taught code, AI and other technical skills to corporates, and advised them on data governance and data strategy. Denise is a non-executive director of A Million Ads and has worked closely with numerous start-ups, building AI, blockchain and chatbot applications.
Xifara is the co-founder of Nupinion, a startup dedicated to improving how people engage with news. She is passionate about leveraging big data to gain insight from global news content.
Iphigenia Paparoussi has been working in Athens in Marketing and Sales positions in multinational companies, with consumer products (and services) of wide distribution (FMCG), such as Coca Cola/3E, Nestle, EFG Eurobank, and Minerva Olive Oil.
Since 2000 Paparoussi has been an active freelancer, entrepreneur, and leadership consultant. She has also started a Master’s degree in Data Science with Artificial Intelligence, with the goal of further getting involved in tech recruiting, app development, and data science engineering.
Konstantina Psoma is the founder of Kaedim, a deep tech start-up developing AI technology to make it simpler, faster and cheaper to create high quality 3D assets for games, films and more has raised a substantial pre-seed round.
Kaedim’s AI technology enables 3D artists to create 3D assets in seconds, achieving more than a 100x speedup compared to existing methods.
Matina Thomaidou is a Senior Director of Customer Success at Wappier and Insights Thought Leader, leading an amazing team on enabling the success of our mobile games and apps clients through the power of AI. She is also a co-founder of Greek Women Do Tech, an NGO that represents a global network aiming to connect, inspire, motivate & empower women working in tech fields, based all over the world.
Prior to Wappier, Thomaidou worked at Facebook Ireland (Ads, Data Science, Gaming), IBM Ireland as Data Science Leader for Europe, Accenture Greece, Microsoft Norway, and Ecole Polytechnique in France, leading data science and business insights projects. She is also the leader of Lean In Greece: Women in Tech Global Circle.
Goals and expectations for 2023: Major collaboration for 2023 with the US Embassy in Greece: a program to act as a bridge between talented individuals from underrepresented communities that are based in Greece and professionals of Greek heritage based in the US that work in the tech (academia and industry). Participants will have the chance to be a part of an immersive Academy which comprises: hands-on technical workshops held by the US-based professionals, as well as remote short-term projects.
Marily Nika is the AR Product Manager at Google where she supports the development of speech technologies used worldwide.
Nika is also an advocate for women in tech and is the cofounder of the global organization supporting female innovators in learning and networking Geekettes, the founder of the Women in Tech Greece Lean In organization as well as the Technical Programs Director of Wonder Women Tech Foundation.
Vicky Evangeliou is a Communication & Marketing Expert with two decades of business experience. For close to a decade, she has been working in multinational companies as business manager, marketing and sales executive in the medical/consumer sector.
Focused on developing concepts in Greece and internationally for local and multinational clients Evangeliou has an expanded portfolio including fast moving consumer products, pharmaceutical, health and personal care, cosmetics, luxury and fashion products as well as automotive and financial services.
Eleftheria Zourou is the Founder and CEO of Doctoranytime, which services and ensures peace of mind along the healthcare journey, both for doctors and patients. The telemedicine solution offers a full portfolio of solutions that help patients find the doctor they can trust and is the right for their unique issue.
Philippa Michali is the Chief Executive Officer of Allianz Hellas covering both Greece and Cyprus. Michali also holds the position of Chairman of the Human Resources Committee in the Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies (HAIC) and is a board member of the Greek-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
She has been chosen to participate in the global Allianz Sponsorship Diverse Leadership program which is addressed to women with leading skills and career prospects. In 2019, Philippa for a second consecutive year, has been recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the Most Powerful Women in Greece for 2018.
Eleni Papandreou is a trained Economist and Operations Research scientist. She is the owner and CEO of Intersys SA, one of the leading companies in Greece for optimizing the business processes of the corporate Office, across Print, Document, Workflow and Remote IT Management environments.
She has served the Federation of Hellenic Information Technology & Communications Enterprises (SEPE) as an elected member of the BoD for 4 consecutive terms (2003-2011) while in parallel lobbying in support of technology investments as an appointed Member of the Central Advisory Committee on Private Investment Law at the Ministry of Finance.
Myladie Stoumbou is regional director at Microsoft and a seasoned digital executive, leader and strategist. Before Microsoft, she worked in senior sales and business development positions in Greek and multinational companies covering SEE region. She is deeply interested in innovation and digital entrepreneurship and she supports young entrepreneurs as a mentor in MIT Enterprise Forum Greece and The People’s Trust.
She specializes in building and transforming high performance sales teams, global and diverse and in helping customers to make the most out of the digital transformation opportunity.
Stoumbou has experience working as a systems engineer, programmer, project manager, account manager, business development executive, digital technology and innovation evangelist, and sales manager.
Currently, she is developing unicorns and startups and helping them grow globally plus as a Chair of Women in Business Committee for the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.
Elena Barla is a Digital Transformation & Innovation Director at Stanton Chase Athens, and a C-level professional with significant corporate & entrepreneurial/startup experience.
Barla has successfully led a variety of managerial roles in Tech, M&As, Consulting & Strategy, Change Management and Digital Transformation & Innovation within large international and cross-functional organizations in Italy, UK and Greece, such as Elsevier (Healthcare Division), Procter & Gamble and Ericsson.
Passionate about digital health & innovation, in 2013 Barla founded Among Doctors, a global networking & collaboration medtech platform, ranked within the Top 9 Social Networks for Physicians worldwide and supported by Microsoft Innovation Center & various medical societies internationally.
Daphne Tsevreni is co-founder and CFO of Clio Muse Tours, an integrated platform to create and share engaging audio and virtual tours for top attractions and city walks around the world.
She has a 6-year experience in bridging culture & tourism by designing innovative business models and products. Through Clio Muse she has collaborated with multiple OTAs, Tour Operators and Cultural Institutions to optimize travelers’ in-destination experience through technology and high-quality cultural content.
SeedBlink is a tech specialized venture investment platform that enables individual investors to fund top-tier European tech startups and scale-ups alongside established institutional investors.